No Greater Feeling
by SplendidDay
Summary: 10 years on, it's 2017 and the Camden family is larger than ever, but will it get larger? All families, futurefic, AU with pairings. Rated T for slight cussing and brief sexual references.
1. Characters

**Camden Family - 2017**

**Eric and Annie**

**Matt and Sarah**

Coby (10)

Daniel (Dan) (10)

Isabella (7)

William (6)

**Mary and Wilson**

Billy (17)

Charlie (12)

Jemma (10)

Libby (10)

Michael (Mikey) (6)

Adam (5)

Jordy (4)

**Lucy and Kevin**

Savannah (12)

Elizabeth (10)

Michelle (9)

Andrew (8)

Alison (7)

Nathaniel (5)

Harrison (5)

Jonathan (4)

Victoria (2)

**Simon and Cecilia**

Zoe (7)

Matilda (6)

Ava (3)

**Ruthie and Martin **

Aaron (11)

**Sam**

**David**

**Check out the link in my profile for my blog which has detailed character bios, along with pictures :). And let me know if you think I should continue this!  
**


	2. Chapter 1

1st September 2017

Kinkirk House

Annie was busy making 13 of her grandchildren lunch, with the help of Savannah, Elizabeth and Michelle. Her and Eric were looking after the nine Kinkirk children as well as Matt and Sarah's four children.

As much as Annie and Eric loved their grandchildren and enjoyed the time that they got to spend with them, they were looking forward to the children all going back to school on the 4th of September.

As Isabella ran through the kitchen, Annie called out to her.

"Bella? Can you please go outside and tell Grandpa that lunch is almost ready so everyone needs to wash up," Annie asked, ignoring the eye-roll that the 7 year old gave her before she turned around and went back the way she came, not daring to disobey her Grandma.

"Come on girls, let's get lunch outside so you can wash up as well," Annie said to the three girls, gesturing to the plates of sandwiches and fruit and the jugs of water that lay on the counters in front of them.

"Okay, Grandma," the three girls chorused, each picking up a plate and heading outside with Annie following after them, glad that this was the last day in a while that her and Eric will have to look after so many of their grandchildren at once.

Once the children all had their hands washed and a plate of food, they sat around on the outdoor picnic table and the soft grass, eating and talking, and Annie couldn't help but overhear some of the conversations between her grandchildren.

"And in the second grade, if you get a math question wrong, the teacher will make you wear a special hat so that everyone can see that you're bad at math," Coby teased his younger sister Isabella-Rose and his cousin Alison, both who would be starting the 2nd grade after the weekend.

The two girls looked horrified and Annie was about to set Coby straight when Andrew and Daniel jumped in.

"Don't sorry, Ali," Andrew told his younger sister. "Coby's just trying to scare you."

"He is, Bella," Daniel confirmed to his own younger sister. "You'll love the 2nd grade, it's so much fun."

Annie watched as Coby rolled his eyes at the ruined joke, wondering just how her baby grandchildren had managed to grow up so fast.

"Are you excited to start the 1st grade, William?" Annie asked Matt and Sarah's youngest.

"Yeah," the young boy smiled happily. "I get to learn to do lots of things this year!"

"You do," Annie confirmed with a smile. "And Nathaniel and Harrison, my big kindergarten boys this year, aren't you?"

"We are, Grandma!" Harrison grinned.

"So is Adam!" Nathaniel supplied, referring to Mary and Wilson's 5 year old.

"That's exciting," Eric joined in, turning to Annie. "All of our grandchildren are growing up so fast."

"I was just thinking that myself," Annie sighed. "I remember when Matt was born, how crazy is that?"

"Victoria is still just a baby, Grandma," Alison supplied.

"And Aunt Ruthie is gunna have another baby, isn't she?" Elizabeth questioned. "Aaron said so."

"Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Martin are trying to have another baby, yes," Annie confirmed.

"But it's much harder for them to have a baby than it is for most other people," Eric filled in. "But we pray to God that they will have another baby, don't we?"

The children all nodded, loving the idea of having yet another cousin to play with, but none of them quite understanding what their grandparents were saying about their Aunt and Uncle's struggle.

* * *

"Aaron, honey, are you just about ready to go to Joey's?" Ruthie called up to her step-son, Aaron.

"Just about, Mom!" Aaron called back down, gathering up the rest of his basketball cards, which he wanted to take to his best friend's house.

Though Aaron knew that Ruthie wasn't his biological Mother, and he saw Sandy whenever was possible, Aaron had made the choice to call both Ruthie and Sandy, Mom.

"Please be quick, sweetheart," Ruthie called back as she hoisted her handbag onto her shoulder. "Your Dad is waiting in the car for us."

"So are you getting the baby put into your stomach today?" Aaron asked as he entered the entryway, still confused about the exact way that his parents were trying to get him a new sibling through IVF, though Martin and Ruthie had tried to explain it to him in simple terms, many times.

"That's right," Ruthie confirmed as they headed out of the house. "The doctor will put two of the embryos into me today."

"Embryos are like… the babies, right?" Aaron asked, trying to remember what he had been told.

"That's what a baby starts out as, yes," Martin confirmed as his wife and son hopped into the car.

"So we might get TWO babies?" Aaron asked excitedly.

"Let's not push our luck, squirt," Martin laughed as they pulled out of the driveway. "We'll be happy with just one baby."

Aaron sighed quietly in the backseat, closing his eyes in a quick prayer, asking God to give his family more than one baby since they had been waiting so long.

* * *

This was something that Mary hated – and she was annoyed at herself for leaving it til the last minute, yet again – shopping for her kids new back to school wardrobes.

Most other years, she had bribed Wilson to join her, but this year he couldn't get the time off work so she was tackling it alone. Truthfully, she knew Billy and Megan would help her out, but two helpers against six non helpers didn't settle Mary's mind, especially now she had three preteens who were starting to really care about what they wore. Libby and Jemma were especially hard to shop for these days because they were determined that this was the year they were going to know as individuals at school, rather than just the "Rivera Twins".

"I wanna come with you, Billy!" Mary heard the voice of her youngest daughter Jordy excitedly talking to her oldest brother.

"Of course you can come with me, Munchkin," Billy laughed, sweeping the four year old up into his arms. "Jem, Libs, do you want to come with me and Megan too?"

The twins nodded happily, squealing when Mary said "Boys, that means you're with me. Meet you back here in an hour, Billy?"

"Sure thing, Mom, come on girls," Billy said as he shifted Jordy into one arm and took Megan's hand with his free hand, leading her towards the section where they would find clothes for his sisters.

Mary watched them walk away before she turned to Charlie, Mikey and Adam, gesturing towards the boy's clothing section, ignoring the groan from Charlie who was far less than happy to be shopping for clothes, especially with his Mom and younger brothers.

"So what kinda clothes do you want this year, Libby?" Megan asked as they reached the area where the racks of clothes for pre-teen girls were.

"Jeans," the ten year old replied as she headed towards a rack full of denims in all different colours. "And just t-shirts and sweatshirts and stuff like that."

"I want pretty clothes," Jemma announced, picking out a light blue dress off the rack closest to her.

"If you're going to get dresses, Jem, you'll need to get tights and things to wear under them to keep you warm," Megan pointed out. "But that dress is really pretty."

"Thanks, Megan," Jemma grinned. "This is way fun shopping with you."

Libby nodded her head in agreement with her twin, "really fun," she added with a smile. "Can I go try these jeans on?"

Meanwhile, Mary wasn't having as much success with her sons, Charlie wasn't a child who felt the cold very much, and so Mary was having a hard time convincing him that he needed a few pairs of jeans and sweatshirts to wear during the upcoming winter.

"Charlie, you need a few warmer clothes, and that's final," Mary finally reached her breaking point with her son. "Either you find some jeans and some sweatshirts or I'll pick them and you'll have no say."

Charlie grumbled as he walked away from his Mom, heading over to a rack of jeans and quickly picking out a few pairs to try on, not really caring what brand they were or anything. Holding them up to Mary he gestured towards the nearby changing rooms where he could see Billy standing outside with Jordy.

"Go on," Mary replied to his gesture, watching him for a few seconds longer as she thought briefly about her son's current mood swings, and wondered if he was hitting puberty, or something more serious was going on in his mind.

* * *

"Matilda, come inside please and get cleaned up, Zoe has her dance lesson in a half hour!" Cecilia called out to her middle daughter, keeping an eye on her youngest, Ava who was eyeing up her eldest sister, looking like she was about to pounce. "Ava? Go and find your shoes, please."

Relieved that her distraction technique worked on the three year old, Cecilia turned her attention back to her middle child, who still hadn't emerged from her garden.

"Matilda Jane Camden, come inside and get changed, now!" Cecilia called out again, louder this time, hearing Matilda groan in response before she came into view, covered from head to toe in dirt. "Matilda! You can't go to Zoe's dance class like that, go and have a quick shower please while I sort out your sisters, I'll leave your clothes on your bed for you."

"No dresses please," Matilda asked Cecilia as she walked past, but Cecilia was so busy watching Ava who had returned to the room that she didn't hear her middle daughter's request, and so sighing dejectedly, Matilda trudged up the stairs to the bathroom, thinking about how unfair it was that her two sisters always got all the attention.

After five minutes, Cecilia headed into Matilda's bedroom, going to her closet and finding her a red dress and white cardigan to wear, and laying the items on her daughter's bed. As Cecilia was about to leave the room, Matilda came into the room, and Cecilia noticed dark bruises down Matilda's arms and legs.

"You need to be more careful, Matilda," Cecilia half scolded her daughter, wondering how she ended up with such a tomboy for a daughter and what exactly Matilda had been doing to receive the huge amount of bruises.

Ignoring her Mom's scolding, Matilda scowled at the clothing choice that lay on her bed. "Do I have to wear a dress, Mommy?"

But Cecilia was already leaving the room to get her other daughters prepared to leave as soon as her middle daughter was ready, and she didn't hear the soft sigh that came from Matilda as she realised she was being ignored, yet again.

* * *

"Where is your brother today?" Sam's girlfriend, Hailee asked as the pair sat down to watch a some tv, enjoying the last few days of freedom before their second year of college started.

"Uh, I don't think he came home last night," Sam replied, drawing Hailee across the couch and onto his lap. "If he did, he's probably still in bed."

"Do you think he's going to do better at college this year?" Hailee asked, referring to David's barely passing the first year of his degree.

"I don't think so," Sam replied sadly. "He doesn't seem to have gained a better attitude about it all."

"That's so sad," Hailee mused.

"Why are we talking about my brother, when we have an empty living room?" Sam queried with a smirk on his face, his eyes darting between his girlfriend's lips and her sparkling eyes.

"You are so easily distracted, Sam Camden," Hailee giggled, leaning forward til Sam's lips touched her own in a soft, loving kiss.

"You love me," Sam grinned before he deepened the kiss, drawing Hailee closer to him as his hands slipped under her t-shirt to gently caress the soft skin of her back.

David swore to himself as he looked at his watch, it was almost 2pm and he could guarantee that Sam would be home, probably with Hailee and they would know that he hadn't come home the night before.

Quietly, David opened the front door to the house, shutting it behind him in the hopes that Sam was upstairs and he wouldn't have to face his brother in his current, hung-over state.

As David entered the living room he was faced with the sight of his brother and his girlfriend stretched across the sofa, lips locked and legs intertwined.

Forgetting his thoughts to sneak unseen into the house, David stood at the end of the sofa, waiting to see if the pair would notice him, which they didn't.

"Get a room," David picked up a cushion off the seat next to the sofa and threw it at Sam's head as he spoke, stalking out of the room as the pair broke apart in confusion.

"Your brother is a jerk," Hailee pointed out, and Sam nodded his head in agreement, twisting their bodies til they were laying parallel to one another on the couch, Hailee's back snuggled tightly against Sam's front.

"TV time?" He asked, aware that David had actually interrupted at a good time, and that both he and Hailee needed a distraction.

"Only if it's my choice," Hailee teased, reaching out to the coffee table to grab the remote and trying to keep it away from Sam's grabbing hands.

Upstairs, David had stripped down to his boxers and slid into his unmade bed, deciding he needed some sleep to try and get rid of the pounding headache. As he lay in the silent room, he could hear Hailee's soft giggles, and Sam's husky replies as they fought over what to watch on the tv.

Rolling over, David jammed his pillow over his head, muttering to himself about the lovesick pair.

After 7 children, the Camden's finally had a really bad egg.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: For those who are having trouble following the family lines in this story, check out my blog (link on profile) or you can ask me questions in your review or PM me for answers. Hopefully this clears up a few questions that were asked in the first chapter, but if not, let me know!**

4th September 2017

On the morning of the first day back at school, all of the Camden households were chaotic, from Lucy and Kevin's usually calm and organised house, to Mary and Wilson's always chaotic one. There were children, backpacks, books, lunches and clothes strewn all over the houses, and the parents all found themselves stressed out, wondering how on earth their parents had managed to make it look so easy all those years ago.

"Mommy?" Lucy heard the voice of her 7-year-old daughter calling out to her. "Have you seen my new shoes?"

"They're down here where you left them, Alison," Lucy called back as she struggled to get Harrison into his new shirt.

"I don't want to wear this!" The 5-year-old complained. "It's all yucky."

"It's new and it's neat and tidy," Lucy said in a dull voice, having just gone through the same argument with Harrison's twin brother, Nathaniel. "You'll look nice for your first day of kindergarten."

"I don't wanna look nice," Harrison pouted, but Lucy ignored him, trying to work out which of her children would be dressed and ready to start breakfast.

"Savannah, Elizabeth, Andrew!" Lucy called to 3 out of her 4 oldest children, knowing Michelle would be taking the longest to get ready, as was usual for the absent minded 9-year-old. "Come down and have breakfast please."

As Lucy slipped Harrison's new black shoes onto his little feet and let him run off, fully dressed now, she scooped up 4 year old Jonathan who was playing next to her.

"Eat your breakfast with the big kids," Lucy told her youngest son. "Savannah will help you with your cereal, okay? Mommy needs to go and help Alison and Michelle."

"Okay, Mommy," Jonathan agreed, kneeling on his chair so he was tall enough to reach the table properly as he pointed to the box of cereal he wanted. "Vannah, I wants this one."

Leaving the breakfast table, Lucy went in search of Michelle and Alison, finding Alison struggling to put her hair up nicely.

"Mommy, can you help me please?" Alison asked, fed up with her short arms not being able to control her long hair properly.

"In a second, honey," Lucy replied. "I just need to make sure Michelle is almost ready, okay?"

Lucy left the bedroom where Alison was and went through the girls' closet and into their large bathroom where Michelle was perched on the edge of the bathtub, book in hand.

"Michelle, are you ready for school?" Lucy asked, looking at her daughter who was still in her pyjama bottoms.

"Uh huh," Michelle answered without looking up from her book.

"Pass me that book please," Lucy demanded gently, holding her hand out and waiting for Michelle to pass the book over.

"But Mom!" Michelle protested, but seeing the look on Lucy's face she handed the paperback over, pouting all the same.

"Go and get ready, now!" Lucy commanded, pointing through the doorway to the bedroom, shaking her head as she followed Michelle back through to the bedroom where the 9 year old finished getting dressed for school, and Lucy helped Alison with her hair.

A half hour later, and 8 of the 9 Kinkirk children were loaded into the family van. Victoria remained at home with Eric and Annie, who would also be looking after Ava that morning. Kevin had left for work early, and so Lucy was dropping the children off at school. Lucy's particular ways had only became stronger over the years, she always set out her children's clothing, every day, even for Savannah, to ensure her children were all dressed nicely, and their clothes didn't clash. She also made sure that their bedrooms were kept tidy, as well as the house and she had a particular order that the children sat in the van in, not that anyone else could really see why.

In the very rear seat of the van sat Harrison, Savannah and Victoria, in the middle row sat Nathaniel, Alison and Michelle and in the front row was Jonathan, Andrew and Elizabeth. This was the way that the van seating had been arranged since the twins were born, and Lucy thought it worked out perfectly, though her children often just wished they could sit with the siblings that they were closest to, or felt like talking to on that particular trip, not who their Mom decided they were to sit next to.

"Ready for the first day of school?" Lucy asked cheerfully, looking in her rear vision mirror at her impeccably dressed children, proud to call them her offspring.

* * *

The chaos at Mary and Wilson's house was much more unorganised chaos than at Lucy and Kevin's, everyone was yelling at one another, the youngest children were running around half dressed, and the older ones were hogging the bathrooms.

Billy was ready for school, the only one in the family who wasn't running around like a headless chicken. He had tried to help his younger brothers get dressed, and tried to get Charlie, Jemma and Libby out of the bathrooms, but nobody seemed to want his help, or opinions and so he set off to look for his youngest sister, knowing Jordy would let him help her get ready for her first day of preschool.

"Hey Munchkin," Billy greeted as he walked into the small bedroom that belonged to Jordy. "Has Mom picked out your back to school outfit?"

"I dunno," Jordy replied, sitting on her bed and swinging her legs back and forward.

"I'll go see if I can find her, then we can get you dressed for your first day of preschool, okay?"

Billy left the room, looking in Mary and Wilson's bedroom and the bathrooms before finding Mary in the kitchen, putting school lunches together.

"Mom?" Billy questioned as he slid up next to Mary, helping her put an apple in each of the lunch bags and boxes. "Have you picked something out for Jordy to wear?"

"Uh, just any of her new dresses. Something with tights cause it's quite cold today," Mary decided on the spot, having not had time to think about it. "Do you want me to get her ready?"

"Nah I can do it," Billy smiled, placing the last apple in the bag before he left the kitchen, the doorbell stopping him in his tracks. "I'll get it!"

Wondering who would be at the door on the first morning of school, Billy was pleasantly surprised to see Megan on the other side.

"Morning!" Megan greeted her boyfriend happily, reaching up on her tip toes to give him a quick peck.

"Good morning, you're ready early!" Billy grinned, grabbing Megan's hand and leading her inside, shutting the front door and leading Megan back towards Jordy's bedroom.

"I accidentally set my alarm wrong, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. My Dad dropped me off here on his way to work, are you sure it's okay?" Megan asked, knowing that Billy often helped his parents getting all his siblings ready in the mornings and she didn't want to be in his way.

"Of course it's okay," Billy grinned at his girlfriend. "You know I love having you around. Plus, I need some girl help with dressing Jordy for her first day of preschool."

Megan laughed, knowing that if left to his own devices, Billy would've just left the 4 year old to pick her own outfit, and considering Jordy's rather eccentric fashion choices, the outfit would've been nothing but a complete eyesore.

As the pair entered Jordy's room, the little girl shot off her bed, flinging herself at Megan's legs, wrapping her tiny arms around the teenagers legs.

"Meggy! You camed over before school!" Jordy squealed excitedly. "Are we gunna play?"

"Hey Jordy," Megan greeted, scooping the small girl up into her arms. "I came over to help you get dressed for your first day of preschool, but we'll play later okay?"

Jordy nodded excitedly, squirming in Megan's arms until she put the preschooler down on the ground.

"I wanna wear my new stripy tights," Jordy announced, heading over to her dresser and pulling out the rainbow striped tights she was meaning.

"What about with this dress?" Megan asked as she pulled a denim dress out of Jordy's closet. "And you can wear your new purple top as well."

Billy smiled at his girlfriend gratefully, suddenly glad he didn't have to make any clothing choices.

"I'm going to see if Mom needs any help, are you okay to help Jordy, Meg?" Billy asked, deciding that if Megan had Jordy under control, he could help Mary with the rest of the kids and the lunches and everything else that went with the first day of school.

As Billy went in search of his other family members, he heard yelling coming from upstairs, and so he headed in that direction to see what was going on. As he got closer he could hear Charlie yelling at Mary, and Billy felt rage at his younger brother for the way that he was speaking to Mary.

"You're always trying to tell me what to do!" Charlie screamed at Mary, tears streaming down his face.

"That's because I'm your Mother, Charles Rivera," Mary yelled back. "It's in my job description!"

"Just leave me alone!" Charlie cried, turning on his heels and running past Billy and down the stairs, and Billy knew that he was running to their bedroom.

"Can you make sure the girls are ready? Mikey and Adam are downstairs having breakfast, I need to go and talk to Charlie" Mary said sadly and Billy nodded in understanding. They both knew that the 12 year old was having attitude problems recently, and he didn't want to listen to anyone, choosing to argue rather than listen, but nobody could quite work out where his issues were.

Mary headed through the house, climbing the flight of stairs that led to Billy and Charlie's room, hearing the sobs from her son before she even opened the door.

She knocked, not even waiting for an answer before she pushed the door open, her eyes falling on the sight of Charlie, curled up on his bed with his face buried in his pillow.

"Charlie? Honey?" Mary asked quietly, all her anger towards her son disappearing as she saw him in such a vulnerable state.

With no answer from Charlie, Mary took a few steps closer to him, slowly making her way across to where he lay on his bed and she sat down next to him, reaching out and gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened back there, Charlie?" Mary asked softly, rubbing her hand across her son's back.

"I dunno," Charlie muttered, not moving his face from the pillow.

"Something's wrong, Charlie," Mary argued lightly. "You haven't been yourself, what happened to my lovely teenage son?"

"His father tried to kill his lovely Mom," Charlie said quickly, his voice barely audible.

"This is about your Dad?" Mary questioned, stunned, none of her children had ever seemed to be affected by the happenings with Carlos when they were younger, and it had never crossed her mind that any of them were old enough at the time to be affected by it years down the track.

"Don't call him that!" Charlie spat. "Wilson is my Dad."

"Sorry, Charlie," Mary apologised sincerely. "I didn't know this bothered you, why didn't you tell me you'd been thinking about…. everything?"

"Because I know you don't like to talk about it," Charlie confessed. "Neither do I. But at the park the other day some kids from school were teasing me about him being in jail, they all knew about it!"

"Glenoak is a small place, unfortunately," Mary replied with a sigh. "I'm sorry that you were being teased, sweetheart, this has nothing to do with you, Carlos was just very sick in his head."

"I don't know what I would've done if you had have died, Mom," Charlie replied tearfully. "Me, Libs and Gem wouldn't have the great life we do now. I love you."

"I love you too, very much, please don't ever blame yourself for what happened, and please talk to me next time something is bothering you okay? Or talk to your Dad or your brother or just anyone, okay?" Mary pleaded with her son, reaching out to hug him tightly.

"Okay, Mom," Charlie hugged Mary back. "Can just me and you do something this weekend? Go out and get a burger or something?"

Mary nodded her head, standing up and helping Charlie to a standing position too. "I promise we'll go out on Saturday, and we'll talk more about this okay? I'm sure you have some questions and I need to give you the answers."

Charlie nodded back, feeling a lump in his throat at the thought of getting all the details he had started to want to know, although he knew that he needed to know them to move on from what he was feeling lately.

"Come on buddy, we better go and make sure everyone is ready for school, this house is chaotic at the best of times," Mary smiled, ruffling Charlie's hair and making him scowl.

"Mom! My hair!" The teenage protested, making Mary's smile grow, there was the son she knew and loved.

* * *

"Daddy!" Came the screaming voice of Isabella Camden, followed immediately by another voice.

"I didn't do anything, Dad!" The voice belonged to Coby, and Matt sighed, realising that his calm morning was about to be ruined by his children's bickering.

"You did so! You said my dress was ugly!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Enough!" Matt yelled as the pair appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Coby leave your sister alone, her dress is pretty, sit down and eat your breakfast. And Bella, you look gorgeous, honey."

Isabella poked her tongue out at Coby, behind Matt's back, and the 10 year old scowled at his little sister for getting him into trouble for something he actually hadn't said.

"Dan, William, come and eat breakfast!" Matt called out to his two other children, checking his watch to see there was ten minutes before he had to leave to drop his children off at school if the wanted to get to work on time. "We have to leave soon."

"Daddy, are the same kids gunna be in my class at school?" William asked as he sat down at the table, grabbing a box of cereal at random and pouring it into his bowl. "Ew I don't like this one."

"I'll have it!" Dan offered, holding out his empty bowl to his little brother. "That's the one I was going to have."

"Look at what cereal you're pouring this time, William," Matt warned. "And there will be some of the same kids, so don't worry you'll know some of the kids in your class."

The six-year-old sighed, thinking back to the pair of kids that had been in his kindergarten class that had made fun of him for being smaller than the other kids. He hoped that those two boys weren't in his first grade class, because as much as William knew it wasn't nice to hate anybody, he was very close to hating these two boys for making him feel so bad and scared.

"Just about ready, everyone?" Matt asked as he started to put away the cereals, milk and juice off the table. "We need to leave in just a few minutes so go and get your coats on and I'll put the dishes in the dishwasher."

Watching as his four semi-independent children trotted off to finish getting ready for the first day back at school, Matt was glad about where his life was at, he and Sarah were able to finally spend more time focusing on their careers now that their children were all at school. He hoped that nothing changed in their lives, everything was finally perfect

* * *

"Ruthie, I'll get that," Martin told his wife as she stood up to put her coffee mug in the dishwasher. "You rest up."

Ruthie rolled her eyes at his over protectiveness, not wanting to burst his bubble by pointing out that she wasn't going to be able to just sit back and put her feet up at her first day back at work that day.

Ever since the pair had got back from the fertility clinic where the embryos were implanted in Ruthie, Martin had been making sure that she was resting as much as possible. He had been doing all of the chores around the house, and Aaron was in on it as well, for once picking up after himself and being more helpful than your average 12-year-old.

That morning he had not only got himself ready for his first day back at school, but he had made Ruthie some toast when he had made his own, and although the spread was a little too thick for Ruthie's liking, she was so touched by his helpfulness that she ate the peanut butter and jelly covered piece of bread without complaint.

"Aaron, are you just about ready to leave for school?" Martin called up the stairs to his son, seeing him pop around the corner as the last words left his mouth. "Oh here you are."

"I'm all ready, Dad," Aaron announced before turning to Ruthie. "Is junior high scary, Mom?"

Ruthie laughed softly at Aaron, shooting him a sympathetic smile. "It'll seem scary, at first. But then you'll work out where your classes are and meet new people and you'll never be able to remember why you were even scared in the first place."

"Your Mom is right, son," Martin agreed. "You'll be learning so much new stuff at junior high, you'll barely have time to think about elementary."

"I hope so," Aaron muttered to himself. "Are we leaving now?"

"Just let me get mine and your Mom's stuff to the car and then we're off, are you sure you have everything?"

"I can get my own bag to the car," Ruthie argued. "I'm going to have to carry it at school, remember?"

"Even more reason for me to carry it to the car for you now," Martin smiled, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his wife's lips, the pair ignoring Aaron's noises of disgust.

"I'm going to wait in the car, no kid wants to see this," Aaron groaned, turning away from his parents and high-tailing it out of the living room, hearing the laughter from Ruthie and Martin at his typical teenager behaviour when it came to affectionate parents.

* * *

"Mommy?" Cecilia turned around, hearing the quiet, pained sounding voice of her middle child, Matilda. "I don't feel well."

"It's probably just first morning jitters, honey," Cecilia said with a smile. "Let me feel your forehead."

Matilda stepped forward so that Cecilia could put her hand against her forehead, and Cecilia gasped before their skin even touched.

"Matilda, you're burning up," Cecilia announced. "Go back to bed and I'll be up soon to take your temperature, okay?"

The 6 year old nodded sadly, heading out of the kitchen where Cecilia was making school lunches, passing Simon on her way through the living room.

"Hey buddy, what's the matter?" Simon asked, kneeling down to be at his daughter's level, seeing her tired eyes and her flushed features. "Are you feeling sick?"

"Mommy said I'm burning up," Matilda replied. "I'm going to bed so she can take my temperature."

"Wanna lift to that bed?" Simon asked, holding his arms out to Matilda, lifting her up as she nodded and stepped into his embrace.

"Daddy, I really don't feel that good," Matilda groaned, holding her stomach and Simon took one look at her and rushed forward to the bathroom shared by his three daughters, getting Matilda down in front of the toilet just in time.

A few minutes later, Cecilia, with Ava in tow, came looking for Matilda so she could take her temperature, and she found her daughter and husband still in the bathroom, the 6-year-old leaning over the toilet, emptying her stomach as Simon held her blonde locks back.

"Is she okay?" Cecilia asked Simon, and Simon shook his head.

"I think she's just getting hotter, and she pretty much hasn't stopped being sick for the past few minutes," Simon informed his wife, both of them turning to look at Matilda as she spoke.

"Daddy? It hurts to breathe," Matilda sobbed before she started retching again.

"I'm going to call the doctor and make an appointment for her," Cecilia announced. "Come on Ava, let's go and see if Grandma and Grandpa can look after you today so you don't get sick too."

"Tilda is sick," Ava called out to Zoe as she came out of her bedroom, dressed and ready for school.

"She isn't going to school?" Zoe asked Cecilia, a pout forming on her lips.

"No, she isn't," Cecilia answered as she picked up the phone, hitting the speed dial number for Matilda's doctor.

"That's _so_ not fair!" Zoe whined. "I have to go to school, so should she!"

"Do you want to be throwing up, too?" Cecilia asked, just as the receptionist at the doctor answered. "Oh I'm sorry, I was talking to my daughter."

Zoe stomped off with Ava following closely behind her, and Cecilia rolled her eyes at the 7-year-old's drama queen tendencies as she made an appointment for Matilda for in an hour's time. For once, the focus of both her parents was on Matilda, but she would give anything to have the focus off her if she could just be feeling better, sadly, that was not to be happening anytime soon.


End file.
